Mourinho's Fenerbahce paired with Feyenoord in Champions League qualifying. Benfica gets Nice
Fenerbahce, which finished runner-up in the Turkish league, will go to Rotterdam for the first leg on Aug. 5 or 6 and host the return in Istanbul on Aug. 12.
The winner will advance to a qualifying playoffs round in August with a place in the lucrative 36-team league phase at stake.
In other pairings between teams that did not win their domestic league, Benfica will play the first leg at Nice and the winner of the second qualifying round clash between Salzburg and Brann will host Club Brugge in the first leg.
Benfica and Salzburg — which plays the first leg against Brann in Norway on Wednesday — have an early start to their European season after returning from the FIFA Club World Cup in the United States.
Benfica's season ended June 28, losing to eventual champion Chelsea in the round of 16, and Salzburg played until June 26 in the group stage.
Also in the Champions League qualifying section for non-champions, the winner between Rangers and Panathinaikos will advance to play Viktoria Plzen or Servette.
Games in the second qualifying round are completed July 30,
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
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Associated Press
11 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Euro 2025: Spain's style vs. England's will to win sets up fascinating final
BASEL, Switzerland (AP) — A title game between defending champion England and World Cup winner Spain is the Women's European Championship final that many wanted. How they got to Basel on Sunday is a whole other story. Spain has mostly cruised through its five games except for a late scare in a tense semifinal against Germany. England has trailed for long periods of three games and survived being on the brink of elimination in both knockout games. Spain is a supremely technical team with a dream midfield pairing two-time Ballon d'Or winners Alexia Putellas and Aitana Bonmatí. England has incredible will to win and has called a pair of dramatic game-changers off the bench, Michelle Agyemang and Chloe Kelly. 'We always have the confidence that in terms of positioning and having possession, we tend to be very precise and it's difficult to take the ball off us,' Putellas said. 'So we're ready for anything.″ It looks like an ideal final of contrasting styles. One made possible only because England's humbling opening 2-1 loss to France ultimately kept the title holder out of Spain's side of the knockout bracket. Leaders and trailers Four vs. 219. That's the number of minutes Spain has trailed at Euro 2025 games compared to England. Spain fell behind between the 10th and 14th minutes of a group-stage game against Italy when some starters were rested because the team was likely to finish top. England gave up two first-half goals against France in their group, again to Sweden in the quarterfinals and one more to Italy in the semifinals. England's equalizing goals by Agyemang in the knockout games came in, respectively, the 81st and then the sixth minute of stoppage time. 'I think we've nearly killed her twice this tournament!' England's Ella Toone said of coach Sarina Wiegman. 'She says we've definitely aged her.' Spain midfielder Patri Guijarro said of England's resolve: ″There's no fragility. And I think that above all, their competitiveness, is what has got them this far. But what they're doing is not easy.″ Trading wins Spain and England each beat the other when winning their recent titles, and they traded wins in a UEFA Nations League group this year. England eliminated Spain 2-1 after extra time in the quarterfinals of its home Euro 2022. Does this sound familiar? England trailed into the 84th that day before two substitutes — Alessia Russo and Toone — assisted and scored to force extra time. Spain got a deserved 1-0 win in the 2023 World Cup final played in Sydney, Australia. Spain is now on a run of 13 wins in 14 games and the blip was a 1-0 loss to England at Wembley in February. Spain won the return game 2-1 on June 3, rallying with two Clàudia Pina goals in the second half. Winning women coaches For the eighth straight edition, the title-winning coach will be a woman. England's Wiegman and Spain's Montse Tomé were in a minority of seven female head coaches with the 16 teams that started in Euro 2025. They are the last coaches standing to extend a winning run started in 1997. Wiegman won the past two, with England in 2022 and her native Netherlands in 2017. Germany coaches Silvia Neid and Tina Theune won the previous five. Spain never reached the final in 13 previous editions since 1984. Penalty shootouts That first final 41 years ago is the only one decided by a penalty shootout. Sweden beat England in a rain-soaked, near-empty stadium in Luton after a two-leg final ended 1-1. The scorer of Sweden's decisive penalty, and its goal in the first leg, was Pia Sundhage, who coached Switzerland to the quarterfinals here, losing 2-0 to Spain. England's second shootout in Women's Euros history also was against Sweden, last week in the quarterfinals. A madcap affair saw only five of 14 spot kicks scored and Sweden fail twice when scoring would have sent England home. Spain was involved in just one Women's Euros shootout, losing to Austria in the 2017 quarterfinals. ___ AP soccer:
29 minutes ago
Spain's women battled sexism and indifference. Now the world champions are eyeing European title
BARCELONA, Spain -- If the women's soccer players of Spain have gone from nobodies to title contenders in less than a decade, it hasn't come easy. The national team has had to fight for better coaching, decent travel conditions, and modern training facilities. It paid off with a World Cup title in 2023, the Nations League crown last year, and on Sunday they face England in the European Championship final. 'It has been a constant with the national team that we have had to fight for acceptable work conditions that would allow us to play at our best,' former Spain defender Marta Torrejón told The Associated Press by phone on Friday. Torrejón lived through the lean years, the time when playing for her country felt like, in her words, a 'waste of time.' And she knows from talking with Barcelona teammates who still play for their country how much things have improved. Torrejón retired from international soccer after the 2019 World Cup as Spain's then most-capped player with 90 appearances. The 35-year-old has since helped Barcelona win three Champions League titles and a slew of other trophies. She also played a part in one of the revolts Spain's women have staged to demand more from the men who run the game. After the 2015 World Cup, Torrejón and other players successfully pushed for the removal of coach Ignacio Quereda, who had run the team for nearly three decades, for his poor preparation ahead of the team's first appearance in the competition. Quereda was later accused by former players of verbal abuse, an allegation he denied. 'I enjoyed playing for the national team, but the preparation and attention to the player was minimum. It felt, to put it bluntly, like a waste of time,' Torrejón said. 'The level of practice and the level of physical training both plummeted compared to what we had (at Barcelona). It was like taking a step back. "I am told that isn't the case now, and I am very glad to hear that.' Torrejón said she saw steps in the right direction under former Spain coach Jorge Vilda, who replaced Quereda, but felt there was still more untapped potential in the team when she retired. After Torrejón quit the team, some players announced in 2022 they would no longer play for Vilda unless he ran a more professional operation. He was backed by the federation. Some players returned to play for him, and the team made history by winning the 2023 World Cup. The celebrations were overshadowed by the behavior of then-federation president Luis Rubiales, who kissed a player on the lips without her consent during the awards ceremony in Sydney. Vilda supported Rubiales initially and he was swept away with his boss when the players stood up to force change, from the removal of Rubiales to improving the travel conditions and handling of the team. Torrejón said she had heard from Alexia Putellas and Irene Paredes, stalwarts of Spain and Barcelona, that things are better since Rubiales and Vilda left. New coach Montse Tomé has enhanced the training methods. Spain leads the way at the Euros for goals scored, ball possession, passing accuracy and clean sheets. In Spain's 1-0 semifinal win over Germany, Aitana Bonmatí leaned on the team's analysts, who informed her the opposing goalkeeper tended to leave her near post unprotected. The result was an exquisite winner from a tight angle. Torrejón said that sort of tactical insight from the staff was unthinkable a decade ago. Spain midfielder Patri Guijarro agrees with Torrejón that the sustained investment Barcelona has provided for the past decade in the women's game has boosted the national team. 'Each and every day we work well in our clubs and I think that is reflected in the achievements of the clubs but also in the national team,' Guijarro said at Spain's camp in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Friday. Guijarro also credits the professionalization of Spain's women's league in 2021, which allowed players 'to dedicate ourselves fully to soccer.' Guijarro is one of 11 Barcelona players on Spain's 23-member squad. The Barcelona contingent includes Bonmatí and Putellas, who have split the last four Ballon d'Or awards between them. Former Barcelona official Xavier Vilajoana oversaw the women's team and the club's training academy from 2015-2020. During that time, the club dramatically increased its funding for women's soccer and built a training program for girls. Vilajoana said one critical decision was having the same coaches train the boys' and girls' teams. That way the Barcelona style was instilled in all the kids, and that ball-possession, short-passing and pressure became fundamentals of the women's teams as well. 'Let's not fool ourselves, we spent many years in a very sexist society and that was reflected in women's soccer. So clearly the change in the mentality of society has helped," Vilajoana told the AP. "But I also believe that Barça's style of play has helped us see women players in the same way (as men).' In the background, Spain's strong feminist movement helped get the public behind the players as they made strides for equality and success. 'There were many of us players who gave it our all for the national team but weren't able to get this far," Torrejón said. "The one thing we knew is that we had talent. We just needed more support.' ___ AP sports writer Graham Dunbar contributed from Lausanne, Switzerland.
Yahoo
39 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Inter Milan Return To Preseason Training Today – Only One Player Absent
Inter Milan have returned to preseason training today, with only striker Mehdi Taremi absent from the group. This according to today's print edition of Milan-based newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, via FCInterNews. They report that Taremi has been granted some extra vacation. Inter Milan's squad have been on vacation for the last few weeks. After a long and gruelling season, the Nerazzurri's players received around a month of vacation. And this was certainly much-needed after a campaign that saw Inter reach the final of the Champions League and also participate in the Club World Cup. Inter Milan Squad Back In Training – Only Taremi Absent MILAN, ITALY – AUGUST 24: Mehdi Taremi of FC Internazionale in action during the Serie A match between FC Internazionale and US Lecce at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on August 24, 2024 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by) But now, Inter must start gearing up for another long season. New coach Cristian Chivu is leading preseason training. The Romanian arrived at Inter last month, replacing Simone Inzaghi following the previous coach's decision to leave for Al-Hilal's massive money offer. Earlier last week, Chivu started work with a few players. Those who did not participate at the Club World Cup returned to training early. However, the rest of the squad have arrived in training today. Frattesi is unable to train with the rest of the squad. However, he is present with the group, and is working on his individual recovery.
